It's not one of my strengths." The purpose of life, if we go by Chua's example, is not enjoyment but winning and showing off. On page 97, Chua says, "The truth is, I'm not good at enjoying life. Chua calls this the "Chinese" way of parenting, but I'll avoid joining the controversy currently raging on the Internet as to whether or not she is thereby insulting an entire race or culture of people. To Amy Chua life is all about competition, and anyone who doesn't come out first is a failure. At no point in the book, not even at the end when she claims in some respects to soften, does she express regret. Her favorite method is to tell them over and over again that they will disgrace the entire family-especially their mother-if they come out any less than number one in an upcoming competition. Her methods include fits of screaming, threats, bribes, insults, shaming, and lies (as when she promises a future respite from practice and then reneges). Chua decides which instruments they will play (piano for Sophia, violin for Lulu) and uses every means possible, short (apparently) of physical violence, to make them practice for hours per day.
Her methods involve as complete a subjugation of her daughters' wills as she, the ferocious "tiger mother," can muster. "Training" is the correct word for Chua's approach to bringing up her daughters.
0 kommentar(er)
